Key Tips for Finding the Right Therapist for Your Needs

Finding a therapist can be a minefield and totally overwhelming. As a practitioner, I get confused with different modalities and I've struggled to find fhe right person for therapy for myself. Here are a few suggestions and things to think about in the process of finding a therapist:

Make a list of things to think about:

1. What you are looking for support with - is it a specific issue or general sense of doom/difficulty?

2. Do you want face to face or online sessions - online can be convenient (and sometimes cheaper) but can lack a certain level of connection. Some therapists can offer both or be flexible about what they offer.

3. Do you have a preference for gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or other identity characteristics?

4. What is your budget and do you want to meet weekly or fortnightly - do you need flexibility on this?

5. Think about any questions you have that you want to ask your therapist - e.g. where did you study, how many practice hours did you have to complete, how do you measure progress, what about confidentiality and supervision?

   
   

6. You will also want to know about their professional body - you can ask directly about professional registration (Look for BACP, UKCP, or HCPC and verify their registration on the official websites.) You can also ask about indemnity insurance.

   
   

Once you have these criteria, have a look on one of the directories such as the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), Psychology Today, Counselling directory or sepcific modality sites e.g. British Association of Dramatherapy or Association for Family and Systemic Psychotherapy. You can specify certain characteristics (location, online/in person, gender, modality) and find therapists that match your needs.

Reach out to some of the matches and see who gets back to you - and set up initial chats to ask your questions and get a vibe check. By this, I mean, get a sense of the therapist - do you feel comfortable talking to them? Do you feel they are listening? Do you trust them and believe what they are saying? Do they say they are able to meet your needs? Take some time to consider them, perhaps meet with a few people and then make a decision.

You can still end the therapy relationship if it doesn't feel right. Most therapists would encourage you to try and sort the issues in the sessions if possible, but if this does not seem possible that is OK. Some therapists ask for an ending session once you have made this decision (this should be in their contract), but there is no requirement to continue with someone if you don't feel it is useful/don't feel comfortable/don't feel able to continue with therapy at this time. Most therapists are grateful for you sharing, naming it, and having the conversation rather than ghosting us!